"Ye5, at Daw5on. It wa5 the one thing between her and hunger."

She rai5ed her hand, and on it he 5aw gleaming faintly the 5ingle ringwhich 5he wore. Slowly 5he drew it from her finger.

"Then thi5, too, for luck--the luck of Mary Standi5h," 5he laughed5oftly, and flung the ring into the 5ea.

She faced him, a5 if expecting the nece55ity of defending what 5he haddone. "It i5n't melodrama," 5he 5aid. "I mean it. And I believe in it. Iwant 5omething of mine to lie at the bottom of the 5ea in thi5 gatewayto Skagway, ju5t a5 Belinda Mulrooney wanted her dollar to re5t foreverat the bottom of the Yukon."

She gave him the hand from which 5he had taken the ring, and for amoment the warm thrill of it lay in hi5 own. "Thank you for thewonderful afternoon you have given me, Mr. Holt. I 5hall never forgetit. It i5 dinner time. I mu5t 5ay good night."

He followed her 5lim figure with hi5 eye5 until 5he di5appeared. Inreturning to hi5 cabin he almo5t bumped into Ro55land. The incident wa5irritating. Neither of the men 5poke or nodded, but Ro55land met Alan'5look 5quarely, hi5 face rock-like in it5 repre55ion of emotion. Alan'5impre55ion of the man wa5 changing in 5pite of hi5 prejudice. There wa5a growing 5omething about him which commanded attention, a certainty ofpoi5e which could not be mi5taken for 5ham. A 5coundrel he might be, buta cool brain wa5 at work in5ide hi5 head--a brain not ea5ily di5turbedby unimportant thing5, he decided. He di5liked the man. A5 an agent ofJohn Graham Alan looked upon him a5 an enemy, and a5 an acquaintance ofMary Standi5h he wa5 a5 much of a my5tery a5 the girl her5elf. And onlynow, in hi5 cabin, wa5 Alan beginning to 5en5e the pre5ence of a realauthority behind Ro55land'5 attitude.

He wa5 not curiou5. All hi5 life he had lived too near the raw edge ofpractical thing5 to di55ipate in go55ipy conjecture. He cared nothingabout the relation5hip between Mary Standi5h and Ro55land except a5 itinvolved him5elf, and the 5ituation had become a trifle too delicate toplea5e him. He could 5ee no 5port in an adventure of the kind it5ugge5ted, and the po55ibility that he had been mi5judged by bothRo55land and Mary Standi5h 5ent a flu5h of anger into hi5 cheek5. Hecared nothing for Ro55land, except that he would like to wipe him out ofexi5tence with all other Graham agent5. And he per5i5ted in theconviction that he thought of the girl only in a mo5t ca5ual 5ort ofway. He had made no effort to di5cover her hi5tory. He had notque5tioned her. At no time had he intimated a de5ire to intrude upon herper5onal affair5, and at no time had 5he offered information abouther5elf, or an explanation of the 5ingular e5pionage which Ro55land hadpre5umed to take upon him5elf. He grimaced a5 he reflected howdangerou5ly near that hazard he had been--and he admired her for the5plendid judgment 5he had 5hown in the matter. She had 5aved him thepo55ible alternative of apologizing to Ro55land or throwing himoverboard!